Every Wednesday I do a dog walk in the City Heights area. I always take the same route and pass the same houses in the neighborhood.

There is one house that I pass that causes me great dismay and makes me so angry that I want to scream.

They have a beautiful male German Shepherd puppy that I have watched grow up over the past several months. Every week when I walk past the house, the limited concrete space that the puppy has to live on, is covered in feces. Piles of it everywhere. Most of it is loose indicating the dog has some sort of GI upset, stress, or a poor diet. There is usually a bowl of water there, but I am not sure how clean and fresh it is. There is also some shade for him to get out of the sun and, thank goodness, he is not tied up or chained.

But I don't think this dog ever gets walked. Based on the amount of poop there all the time, I am sure that concrete space is where he spends the day and possibly the night. As the weeks have passed, I have seen him change from a sweet happy tail-wagging little pup to an angry growling, aggressive older pup. He is not being properly socialized as he has no exposure to life. This dog could turn out to be very dangerous if his owner's continue this neglectful treatment.

Unfortunately, because food, water and shelter are provided, there is nothing I or the Department of Animal Services can do. The dog does not appear to be hurt in any way so I don't think there is any physical abuse. But the neglect is so outrageous it makes me furious. These people do not deserve to have a dog because they obviously are irresponsible and don't seem to care for his well-being at all.

The very worst part of all of this is that these people have small children. I have seen them and their toys around the property. The lessons they are learning about how to treat a companion animal are deplorable.